“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
A Single-Minded Heart
While reading my devotions a few days ago, which included the beatitudes, the above verse stuck out. I’ve read it many times before and probably have thought about it, but the Lord grabbed my attention. Pure in heart. I thought it meant honest, open and clean before God, which I found out is part of it. But I looked it up in the dictionary and the word pure means unmixed with any other matter; unpolluted with no obstructions.
Then I looked into the Blue Letter Bible app on my phone to get David Guzik’s take on this verse. He added that “The polluting sins of covetousness, oppression, lust, and chosen deception have a definite blinding effect upon a person; and the one pure of heart is freer from these pollutions.*” These polluting sins captivate us and distract us from purely seeing God with undivided and committed devotion to Him alone.
While talking to God and thinking about this, I realized that pure in heart is being totally single-minded for the things of the Lord. Whatever things are true, noble, just, whatever things are pure, lovely, of good report…think on these things (Philippians 4:8, paraphrased). We are to be undistracted by worldly things such as the lusts of the world, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Anything other than the pure and loving attitude of God obstructs and inhibits our view of Him.
This is the promise: we will see God! Of course, we see now dimly as in a mirror (1 Corinthians 13:12). Now we get a taste, a glimpse; then we will see face to face. Yet this glimpse is enough to captivate our hearts to want more. To continually gaze into the things of the Lord is so freeing. When we look to the Lord without obstruction and pollutants from our flesh and the world, we truly see God in nature, we see God more clearly in Scripture, and we see our family and brothers and sisters in Christ purely. We see the good and wonderful things God is doing in lives. We are free and not worried about how others see us but are concerned for the pure things of God in others.
How I’m perceived or seen can really trip me up sometimes, yet the reality is that when I focus on the unmixed things of God, I am free! This is the good news the Lord continues to unveil as we grow in His grace. We see Him clearer and clearer.
Our confession of sin purifies (1 John 1:9), and our hope in seeing Him purifies (1 John 3:3) and takes out the obstacles! This is powerful!
Dear Lord, we pray to fix our minds and hearts on You alone, unmixed by anything else. Our deepest desire is to see You, that You may be glorified. Praise You for the promise of truly seeing You clearer and clearer! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
The things that distract us are beyond our control anyway. Let go or take it to the Throne. And then let the Father take care of our lives!
Amen!